Human Hungry Hungry Hippos

To get the bungee cord, go to Ebay and search for 3/8 inch shock cord. When we played we used four strands that were each at least 75 feet long. The most economical way to do this is to look for a good deal on a 300 foot spool and cut it. Maybe it would work with just 50 feet for each player, but I don't know.

We wrapped the cord around everyone's waist with something like a slipknot. We had the cords doubled or tripled over so that it had the right amount of "pull." It’s hard to describe, so make sure to experiment and test everything out with some of your leaders before the day of the event. It's somewhat of an art to make sure the players have enough stretch to get to the center, but just barely. You want there to be enough tension so that they will get pulled back hard. Make the students play in their socks (so there is less grip) and make them have to work VERY HARD to get to the middle; that's what makes it fun.

We had an adult man by each of the poles to hold the ends of the ropes, wrapped around the poles. They were also able to adjust the slack to give the teens the right amount of tension. They were also there to be a human shield in case the teens came back at the poles too fast.

Make sure to get elbow and knee pads for the teens or else they will lose a lot of skin! When we tested it, I tried it without knee pads and lost skin even though I was wearing jeans. I bought enough knee and elbow pads so that the “on deck” teens could be putting them on while another set of teens were playing. This helped keep things moving.

This past year we had the idea to attach the cords to the teens using life jackets. However we tested this and felt there would be too many problems and that it would actually take longer than wrapping around their waist. We were also worried about how uncomfortable it would be for the girls, so we scraped that idea.

The goal of the game is for the players to grab as many balls as they can from the middle and put them in a container back at their pole. They can grab balls of any color, but they can only grab one at a time. Also, they are only allowed to grab a ball that is inside the circle in the center of the room. Any balls that roll outside the circle are dead. This important rule keeps players from swashing balls closer to them and then getting them later. Also, discourage teens from “splashing the pot” by hitting most of the balls from the center. It’s funny the first time a teens does it, but it wrecks that round for everyone else. The balls we used were just hollow plastic play balls like the kind we used to be able to jump into at McDonalds. You should be able to get a box of 100 at Wal-Mart or somewhere like that in the little kids’ toy section.

To find the center of the playing area, cross the bungee cords between opposite poles and then put a piece of making tape at the center of the X. The circle itself had the diameter of the pool cue that I used to make it.

When we played we had all the teens who wanted to play put their names on slips of paper and then we drew them out randomly. For most rounds we did guys with guys and girls with girls. Each player was able to play in two back to back rounds. For hype, I would try to get the teens to make hippo noises and I would yell “One Two Three Hippo!” to start the match. Most years we just pretended to keep score, although this past year I did give a prize to the student who go the most balls. Keeping score helps them keep motivated; however it is hard to make it fair since some teens will probably receive more slack than others. The most important thing is to keep it fun.